Artist Omar Rayyan – The Artwork of the Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti

Artist Statement

Omar Rayyan is a Massachusetts artist who is known for his children’s book illustrations of fantasy, fairy tales, and folklore. The bucolic
surroundings of his year-round home on Martha’s Vineyard compliment and help inspire his “old world” aesthetic toward painting. He enjoys looking to the past for inspiration and guidance from the great oil
painters of the Northern Renaissance and the Romantic and Symbolist painters of the 19th century such as Rembrandt, de Hooch, van Dyck, Rubens, Bruegel. Rayyan also cites John Singer Sargent, Arthur Rackham, and Persian miniatures as having an effect on his work.

In the past, he created illustrations for many publishers, including Simon & Schuster, Random House and Hyperion/Disney. Omar was also a concept illustrator for the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His market was mainly geared towards children’s and young adult’s magazines and books, doing cover and interior illustrations. He also has illustrated several children’s picture books.

In 2016, Omar published an illustrated book, Goblin Market. It was the culmination of many years of work, a personal project based on the narrative poem by Christina Rossetti. A successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign helped the project come to fruition, and the result was a beautiful hardcover book packed with over 100 full-color watercolor paintings.

Nowadays, Omar is concentrating more on doing personal works and commissions for collectors. Paintings of whim and fantasy made to indulge his own personal tastes and humors and to hopefully entertain and please the viewing public.